The thick mist was deathly silent.
That icy, unmasked killing intent pierced the skin from all directions like countless fine ox-hair needles, drilling into the marrow.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Karin stood back-to-back, forming the most basic defensive triangle, their hearts pounding wildly in their chests.
They could see nothing, hear nothing.
The entire world seemed reduced to this vast, suffocating white expanse.
"Be careful!" Sasuke hissed, his nerves stretched to the limit. "This is the Mist's Silent Killing Technique! Don't split up!"
"Damn it! We can't see where he is at all!" Naruto's voice carried irrepressible anxiety.
Karin closed her eyes tightly, desperately extending her sensing ability.
But in her perceptual world, Zabuza's massive chakra had merged with the mist itself—omnipresent, impossible to pinpoint.
Just then.
A teasing voice seemed to whisper right in each of their ears.
"Eight places."
The three stiffened.
"Throat, spine, lungs, liver, jugular artery, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart."
"Brats, which one do you want pierced first?"
Before the words finished, a water-formed figure silently condensed in front of Sasuke!
"Water Clone!"
Sasuke reacted instantly, his kunai already thrusting out with a whoosh!
Pfft!
The kunai easily pierced the water clone's chest, turning it into a splash that soaked his pants.
But at the same moment, two identical figures appeared behind Naruto and Karin!
"Behind you!" Karin cried out, golden chains already bursting forth.
Naruto rolled clumsily like a donkey, narrowly dodging the fatal strike.
"Hahaha! Not bad reactions!" Zabuza's laughter echoed through the mist, full of cat-and-mouse mockery. "But just dodging won't save you!"
More water clones emerged from the fog—four, five, six...
They attacked simultaneously from all sides!
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
Sasuke decisively formed seals, a massive fireball surging out to evaporate the thick mist with heat.
Yet the fireball only illuminated a few meters before being rapidly weakened by the damp air, silently dissipating.
"Idiot! Using fire style in my Hiding in Mist Technique?" Zabuza's mockery followed immediately.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Naruto's shadow clones barely lasted three seconds before being jointly destroyed by several water clones, turning into puffs of white smoke.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Karin's chains danced wildly in the air, shattering water clone after water clone, but more surged endlessly, rapidly draining her chakra.
At this rate, they'd eventually be worn down!
"Damn it!"
Sasuke gritted his teeth. Watching his teammates struggle, his pride and unwillingness burned fiercely.
No!
I can't lose like this!
He charged in one direction, trying to break through the water clones' encirclement to find Zabuza's real body.
But a figure ghost-like blocked his path.
Not a water clone.
That solid, icy chakra—it was the original!
"Found you!" Sasuke's eyes sharpened, his kunai arcing treacherously toward the throat.
Yet Zabuza merely tilted aside casually, dodging the attack.
At the same time, he kicked Sasuke in the abdomen.
"Ugh!"
Sasuke felt an irresistible force, flying backward like a broken kite, crashing heavily onto the water's surface.
"Sasuke!" Naruto and Karin cried out together.
"The game's over." Zabuza's figure clarified in the mist. "Starting with you, the most annoying Uchiha brat."
He instantly appeared before the fallen Sasuke, looking down, raising his kunai.
Too fast!
Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply.
He wanted to move, but pain slowed his body.
He could only watch the gleaming kunai enlarge in his vision, enlarge...
Am I going to die?
No!
I haven't... caught up to my brother yet!
I haven't... seen that guy's true strength!
I can't die here!
Stimulated by intense survival instinct and unwillingness, Sasuke's mind buzzed—the world changed.
The impenetrable mist seemed parted by an invisible hand in his vision.
Zabuza's extreme speed turned into slow-motion frames.
He could clearly see every twitch of the opponent's arm muscles, the path of that icy chakra flowing within.
In his eyes, a speck of crimson quietly emerged, spinning rapidly into a black magatama.
Sharingan—awakened!
In this life-or-death moment, Sasuke twisted his body with all his strength!
Shnick!
The kunai grazed his shoulder, spraying blood. Intense pain drew a grunt.
But he lived!
"What?!" Genuine surprise appeared on Zabuza's face for the first time.
He actually dodged?
On the other side, seeing Sasuke bloodied on the water, Naruto's mind exploded.
The string of reason snapped completely.
"Saaa—suuu—keee!"
An inhuman roar erupted from his throat.
A violent, evil, destruction-filled red chakra erupted like a volcano from his body!
The surrounding thick mist was forcibly blown away in a large swath.
Naruto's eyes turned pure red, his whisker marks darkening and thickening menacingly, sharp claws extending from his fingertips.
Like an enraged beast, he glared at Zabuza.
On the distant water.
Sora set down his book, leaning forward slightly. His usually smiling amber eyes shone brightly.
"Oh ho, buy one get one free—double power-up."
In his mind, system prompts rang consecutively.
[Ding! Rare bloodline limit 'Sharingan (Single Tomoe)' first awakening detected. Energy fluctuation weak. Record?]
[Ding! Special chakra 'Nine-Tails Chakra' detected. Energy fluctuation medium. Record?]
(No repeated prompts for things like Adamantine Sealing Chains to pad word count)
"Record, of course."
Sora happily confirmed inwardly.
"Even mosquito legs are meat—let alone two big juicy ones."
Two new discs appeared in his system space: one flickering with single-tomoe red light, one burning with crimson flames.
On the water.
Zabuza's face grew gravely serious.
An Uchiha with awakened eyes.
A jinchūriki erupting with power.
This mission had completely exceeded expectations.
He needed to end it quickly!
Abandoning the idea of finishing Sasuke, he flashed toward the far more violently dangerous Naruto!
Yet a hand lightly rested on his shoulder.
Zabuza's hairs stood on end!
He whipped around to see the face he least wanted—the one with the cheerful grin.
"Exam over."
Sora's voice was soft, yet struck Zabuza's heart like a hammer.
"Your performance... failing grade."
Before the words finished, Sora swung the massive Kubikiribōchō casually forward with lightness defying its weight.
No ninjutsu.
Pure speed and power!
Zabuza saw only a huge shadow tearing the air, smashing down.
He had no time to form seals.
Boom—!
A muffled explosion.
Zabuza flew backward faster than he came—like a baseball hit by a bat—accompanied by cracking bones, crashing into a distant shore tree, then slumping lifelessly.
"Alright, fight's over—pack up."
Sora slung the Kubikiribōchō over his shoulder, whistling like a youth finishing farm work.
The red chakra on Naruto receded like a tide; he blacked out and fainted.
Sasuke's consciousness blurred from blood loss and exhaustion.
Karin hurried over, using Mystical Palm Technique to heal them.
Just then.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several senbon whistled from the mist depths, precisely hitting the "corpse" of Zabuza in the neck.
Zabuza twitched, then stilled completely.
A petite figure wearing a Mist hunter-nin mask landed lightly beside the body.
"Thank you for your assistance. This man is the village's S-rank rebel ninja—I've been ordered to hunt him for a long time."
The youth's clear voice was ambiguously gendered.
"Now, I'll handle the body to prevent intelligence leaks."
Sora, carrying the great sword, eyed this sudden "hunter-nin" with interest.
That cold, pure chakra—no mistake.
"Oh? Hard work." Sora replied cheerfully, as if fully believing. "Then, I'll leave it to you."